Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

This week I came across two articles for writers that I thought I’d pass along.

The first article comes from my friends over at The Noble Dead website. Barb and J.C. Hendee are bestselling authors with nearly a score of books to their collective credit. J.C. is also their webmaster, and trust me, he knows his stuff.

Their recent Writer’s Corner article is “Stay in Touch with Your Readers,” and it is a primer for anyone building an online “author” presence. The article discusses questions such as, “How much contact is too much?” and “What kind of reader/writer contact is over the line?” It provides advice on how to respond to reader complaints, and some basics for a website and/or blog.

The road of reader/writer interaction is often bumpy, but the Hendee’s lay out clear guides to keep you from running off into a ditch.

The second article comes from The Missouri Review, a literary magazine out of the University of Missouri. TMR has a blog and in it I found a post entitled “10 Things Emerging Writers Need To Learn.”

I found all of the advice within to be solid, though some of it–like “You need at least 3 professional mentors”–is rather pie-in-the-sky-ish. I mean, I would love to have had (or to have now) three professional mentors. I’d love to have one professional mentor. Truth is, though, that professional writers are already strapped for time and, in my experience, don’t have a great reputation for “paying it forward.”

Though obviously geared toward a younger (than me) audience, and though swathed in the rather insular worlds of academia and “litrachur,” it’s still chock full of good, common-sense advice.

New writers, take note; old farts, re-commit to the craft.

k